I was going through all of the posts trying to see if anybody makes blue type cheeses with raw milk. I know that the cheese has to age 60 days if you use raw milk, but aren't blue cheeses subject to listeria problems? I read that hard cheeses are not because of the low moister and high salt content, but I was wondering about blue cheeses.

I made my Stilton from raw milk, like I make all of my hard cheeses, but I'm not sure if that is good or not.

I found several articles on the internet about Stilton and listeria, so I was just wondering what other people do.

I can pasteurize the raw milk before making it, but it's tough to pasteurize 8 gallons of milk at a time. I usually make (2) 4 gallon batches of cheese at a time. I will probably just buy pasteurized milk for my next try.

My take on what the experienced (linuxboy, Sailor, et. al.) have told us is the danger is in the handling not the milk. If you know your source and their sanitation and handling procedures are up to snuff, you should be fine.

That said, LB has also said that P/H milk is suitable for blues. Nothing else, just blues. So if you aren't comfortable with raw, buy a good quality P/H or pasteurized cream line milk. I've really enjoyed my Stilton style cheeses made with P/H, although the cream line ones are slightly better.

I make all of my cheeses, including fresh ones, from raw milk. I agree that as long as all safety precautions are taken with regards to milk extraction/handling (what the cows eat and how they live, how clean they are is also a consideration I make) raw milk should be fine.Where I live raw milk is very strictly regulated, so we also have those regulations as an added safety net, but despite these health safety guidelines, I have seen the animals, how they live, where they are milked, and asked what they eat etc. All of the milk is immediately refrigerated to 3 degrees celcius as required by law, there is a direct hose from the milking machine to the milk fridge.

I also make all my cheese with raw milk and have done at least 30 young cheese makes without any issues. I know the milk handling since I'm the one that does it. Raw milk keeps itself safe longer than pasteurized milk but I guess handling/sanitation is important to know......

Here in the EC raw milk cheeses are allowed to be sold, as hard/semi hard cheeses that are aged over 60 days, without any warning on the label and the fresh ones with a warning. Obstetricians will always warn pregnant women not to eat raw meat, raw fish and cheeses from unpasteurized milk because listeria is dangerous for their unborn child.Thousends of childrens here on farms drink unpasteurized and uncooked milk every day...